Wednesday, August 10, 2011

After spending most of the past few months baking through one of D.C.’s hottest summers in history, our collective wanderlust kicked in, so we packed up the car and hit the road heading north. A quick stopover in New York to see some family became our launching point for our Northeast Adventure.

We started the day by driving into New Haven, Connecticut for a true classic – Frank Pepe Pizzeria.

Opened in 1925, Pepe’s is the originator of New Haven-style pizza (also known as apizza, prounounced “ah-BEETs”). Their signature dish is the white clam pizza – a white pizza with fresh clams, garlic, grated cheese and oregano.

This was the amoment we had been waiting for all amorning!

We’ve tried other pizzeria’s impressions of Pepe’s white clam pizza, but they don’t compare to the original.

After lunch, we needed to work off all that pizza, so we headed over to Sleeping Giant State Park to hike up to “The Tower.” We weren’t sure what to expect - we knew it was some sort of tower (our powerful deduction skills), but after hiking the mile and a half out, we finally saw it:

It’s a big stone fortress,built in the early 1930’s and funded by the Works Progress Administration (the original stimulus package). We spent some time on top of the Tower admiring the views and enjoying the cool breeze.

:)

Some dangerous maneuvers went into getting this picture. Don't worry - we're okay!

The next stop on our tour of Connecticut was Mystic. It’s a small fishing village, most known for being the setting of the Julia Roberts movie “Mystic Pizza.”

We did not try the pizza, but it made us happy just to know it exists.

Mystic is a cool little town with a lot of fun artsy shops, restaurants, and a nice marina.

Despite what the sign says, I'm pretty sure there are fish in there.

Adam considered joining the yacht club, but sadly forgot to pack his boat shoes.

There is also a loud horn that blows every hour to let you know they are raising the GIANT DRAWBRIDGE THAT YOU HAVE TO CROSS TO GET IN TO THE CITY!

Dinner was an easy choice – the Cove Fish Market is a classic New England lobster shack, and it was exactly what we were looking for.

We ordered at the window, then had to wait... and wait... and wait...

After what felt like an unbearable amount of time (probably ten minutes, tops), we were presented with the perfect ending to a New England day.